First Febrile Seizure Research Paper

Parental Thoughts and Actions Regarding Their Child’s First Febrile Seizure Febrile seizures (FS) are a common convulsive disorder triggered by a fever during early childhood between the ages of 6 months and 5 years. They have no important negative effects on the patients cognitive development and usually represent a benign condition which does not require an extensive workup. To medical professionals, FS are just an everyday, harmless phenomenon with good prognosis, but to the inexperienced parents, the sight of their convulsing child may be one of the most frightening moments of their lives. I chose this article because it serves as a good reminder that as a nurse, not only do we need focus on the physiological aspect of care, but also …show more content…
Simple FS are defined as seizures lasting less than 15 minutes and not reoccurring during a 24 hour period. The children consisted of 46 boys and 32 girls, with most of them being between the ages of 2-3. Enrollment occurred over a 48 month period through a private pediatric group practice and involved face-to-face or telephone interview investigation. The survey was conducted 2 weeks after the FS and the questionnaire was divided into 3 parts: details of the family and child, medical management of the child prior to reaching the hospital, and parental actions and thoughts during the convulsive event. The parents were first asked what they were thinking when the convulsions were occurring and if they believed that their child was going to die, dying, dead or had severe brain damage. Second, the parents were asked about their concerns regarding FS and its appropriate management. Parents with previous knowledge about FS were asked to state the source of this knowledge. The parents were asked about their perception of fever and measures taken when their child has a febrile illness. In addition, parents were asked if they experienced restless nights or psychological issues lasting more than 2 days after the